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(No Model.)

* G. CROUCH.

BAG-CATCH.

' No. 354,59 Patented Dec. 21. 1 886..

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GEORGE CROUCH, OF NET/V YORKJN. Y.

BAG-CATCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 354,598, dated December 21, 1886.

Application filed July 26, 1886. Serial No. 209,109. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE ORoUoH, of the city and State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Bag-Catches, of which the following is a specification.

Hand-bags are usually made with a frame the parts of which are hinged together so that the upper part or mouth of the bag can be opened or closed. Spring-catches of various kinds have heretofore been made for holding the frames together when the mouth of the bag is closed; but these spring-catches are usually made with hooks or bolts passing into mortises, and it is difficult to enter these hooks into the proper openings, especially whenthe bag-frame may be sprung out of shape by the contents of the bag, and when an effort is made to open the bag it is generally necessary to take both hands in doing so, because the hooks are liable to catch at the metal around the mortises.

In my improvements I employ'a swinging finger upon a horizontal axis at one side of the case, which case contains a spring-bolt that acts as a block to hold the swinging finger in position when the bag is closed, and there is a spring to swing the finger and allow the bag to open when the spring-bolt is pressed away from the tail of the swinging finger, so that in closing the bag it is only necessary to turn the swinging finger down against the side of the frame after the mouth of the bag has been closed, and the bolt, springing up, blocks the tail of the swinging finger and holds the bag closed, and when the spring-bolt is pushed endwise and the tail of the swingingfinger liberated the spring swings the finger out of the way and allows the bag to be opened, and these operations can be performed with ease with one hand.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is an inverted plan view of the catch as separated from the frame. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section at the line a0 a2, and Fig. 3 is a vertical section transversely of the swinging finger at the line 3 y.

The bag-frame is of any desired character, the portion 2usually being made L-shaped in section and the portion 3 swinging in beneath the horizontal flange of the L-shaped frame, and these frames will beof various sizes and shapes, according to the character of the bag.

Upon the frame 2 the case 4 is secured by rivets 5, passing through or formed with the end flanges, 6, of the case, and this case 4 is hollow and adapted to receive the moving parts of the catch.'

The swinging finger 8 is of a suitable shape to hold the part 3 of the bag-frame when the bag is closed. This finger 8 has projecting pivot-pins 9, forming a horizontal axis upon which such finger swings, and these pivot-pins are received into recesses in the case 4., and they are secured in place by bending the projections 10 partially over the pivots 9. Around one of the pivot-pins 9 there is a spring, 11, one end of which acts against the case and the other against the finger to swing the same away from the frame 3 in opening the bag, and there is a tail-piece, 12, within the case 4, projecting from the inner end of the swinging finger.

\Vithin the case4 is a spring-bolt having a blocking-piece, 16, sliding back and forth, and

preferably guided by the stationary stud 17, 7

around which is a helical spring, 18, by which the bolt is moved to bring the block 16 against one side of the tail 12 of the swinging finger when the bag-catch is closed, as shown in Figs. 2and 3, and thereby blocking and holding the swinging finger and keeping the bag from opening. This block 16 is acted upon by a suitable pusher outside the case of the catch. I prefer to make this pusher in the form of a shank, 20, extending along within the case from the blocks 16, and terminating as a pusher, 19, that passes through a hole in the end of the case and projects over one of the flanges 6. If, now, the pusher 19 is pressed inwardly, the shank 20 slides the block 16 along and against the action of the spring 18, liberating the tail 12 of the swinging finger, and allowing the spring 11 to swing said finger up out of the way to the position shown in Fig. 1, so that the bag may be opened, and the bag is closed by a reverse movement, the block 16 being forced along to lock and hold the tail of the swinging finger after such finger has been.

swung down for holdingthe bag shut.

I claim as my invention 1. The combination, in a bag-catch, of a case, a finger at the side of the case, pivoted to the same by a horizontal axis and swinging down zontal pivot-pins 9, spring 11, around thesame, r

the bolt-block 16 and spring 18 to move the block, the bolt-shank 20, and pusher 19, projecting at the end of the case, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination, ina bag-catch, of a finger at one side of the case and a horizontal pivot for the same, a spring for swinging the said finger outwardly, a tail upon the finger 20 within the case, the locking-block 16, its shank and pusher, and the spring within the ease to give end motion to the shank, pusher, and block, substantially as specified.

Signed by me this 15th day of July, A. D. 25 1886.

GEO. CROUCH.

Witnesses:

Gno. T. PINOKNEY, WALLACE L. SEBRELL. 

